This invention relates to unique cyclic acetalaldehydes which are particularly useful for preparing an advantageous diol product upon hydrolysis and hydrogenation.
There are many cyclic acetals which may be hydroformylated to produce acetal-aldehydes which can be hydrolyzed and hydrogenated to yield polyols, including diols. However, prior art cyclic acetal-aldehydes prepared from prior art cyclic acetals yield a polyol product containing three or more polyols upon hydrolysis and hydrogenation. Because the polyols in any such admixture have very similar physical properties, the separation of the mixture into its component parts is extremely difficult in many cases.